The invention relates to a method for the formation of annular products from a hypereutectoid steel composition that has been initially centrifugally cast into an ingot in the form of a solid of revolution, illustratively a cylinder.
In known techniques for forming bearing rings and the like, a starting, centrifugally formed ingot is removed from the casting mold and pre-worked into tubular form. The resulting tube is then sawed into annuli having the width of the final product, and the annuli are subsequently worked by rolling, forging or upsetting prior to a finishing heat-treating operation.
Such techniques are advantageous in that they exhibit efficient utilization of the molten steel, particularly as a result of the fact that the centrifugal force brought into play during the casting operation tends to inhibit the formation of internal shrinkage cavities and segregates.
However, they have the disadvantage of requiring the expenditure of large quantities of heat for the casting, forming and heat-treating operations. In addition, the total time for processing of the product from the casting step through the final heat-treating operation is relatively long, principally due to the necessity of pre-working the ingot into a tube to be sawed.